U.S. Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) said the U.S. shares many values with Taiwan and will not back down in the face of Chinese aggression.
“Taiwan and the United States are strong partners that share a powerful commitment to democracy, the rule of law and economic freedom,” Gosar told State Newswire. “As China increases its aggressive plots to contain Taiwan, the United States stands shoulder-to-shoulder with Taiwan in preserving its sovereignty and security while advancing freedom and values across the world.”
Some members of the U.S. intelligence community believe that China could invade Taiwan as early as 2024, according to the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
A Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) report argues that if China were to use direct lethal force to defeat Taiwan's army and remove the civilian leadership, Beijing would face potentially severe costs on multiple fronts. The report assumes, for the purpose of a simplified analysis, that China would not use nuclear weapons, and that U.S. military forces would engage in a limited intervention that would not ultimately defeat China. The report asserts that if China succeeds in “reunification” with Taiwan through forceful means, Beijing will sacrifice the progress it has made toward becoming a global superpower.
The CSIS report states that “reunification” would be met with economic repercussions from the global community that would restrict China’s ability to import and export goods. Invading Taiwan would likely have a detrimental effect on Chinese currency values, on China's domestic markets, and on business sentiment towards China, according to the report. It states that “meaningful” intervention by the U.S. military would drastically increase the costs incurred by China. A military conflict would most likely take place in close geographic proximity to China’s “most economically important and populated provinces.” The report said that if China succeeds in “reunification,” Chinese forces will be occupying an island with “a hostile population” and “a shattered local economy, including its semiconductor sector.”
The report, titled “’Reunification’ with Taiwan through Force Would Be a Pyrrhic Victory for China,” was authored by Jude Blanchette, Freeman Chair in China Studies at CSIS, and Gerard DiPippo, Senior Fellow of the Economics Program at CSIS.
The Taiwan Relations Act of 1979 asserts that the U.S. aims to maintain peaceful trade and cultural relations with both Taiwan and China. The act specifies that “the United States shall provide Taiwan with arms of a defensive character and shall maintain the capacity of the United States to resist any resort to force or other forms of coercion that would jeopardize the security, or social or economic system, of the people of Taiwan,” according to the Congressional Record.
Gosar has represented Arizona's Fourth Congressional district since 2010, according to his website.
